This blog Haiti Solutions supports the growth of political and economic freedom, good governance and human rights in Haiti by educating Haitian citizens, parties and governments on the values and practices of democracy.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

For the past 31 years former Presidents Duvalier, Aristide and Preval squandered Haiti’s opportunities leaving behind a legacy of corruption, human rights violations and drug trafficking – not to mention crushing poverty. Now, eighteen months after the devastating January 12 earthquake with little progress on reconstruction, Haitians are becoming more and more frustrated with the political deadlock in Port-au-Prince. Last November, the Haitian people registered their frustration with corruption and voted for change. They resoundingly voted for Michel Martelly as the candidate for change. But change has been under heavy fire by those who want to keep Haiti mired in the corrupt politics of the past. Their ranks include drug dealers, kidnappers and corrupt business leaders in the Groupe de Bourdon and politicians who squandered public resources for their personal enrichment.Click on picture to enlarge

The crux of the deadlock is INITE’s refusal to ratify a Prime Minister in an effort to ensure that they maintain a hold on that office with one of their handpicked candidates. President Martelly has selected two honest and experienced men to become Prime Minister, Daniel Rouzier and Bernard Gousse. INITE’s parliamentarians rejected Rouzier, a successful businessman known for his integrity, in a complete violation of the Haitian Constitution. According to Article 157 the Prime Minister is required to submit certain documents for ratification, such as birth certificates for himself and his parents and financial disclosures. If he or she is able to provide all of those documents and the documents can be verified, the Parliament is required to accept the document and then move to a political vote. The Parliament could not find any issues or irregularities with Rouzier’s documents, but refused to approve him. Many speculate that if the people would never tolerate it if the Parliament officially approved all of the documents and then rejected Rouzier in the political vote.

The latest nominee, Gousse, is also known for his integrity particularly for his efforts to take on the corrupt system using the rule of law and an iron fist during his tenure as Minister of Justice under former Prime Minister Gerard Latortue in 2005. He is also facing deadlock and opposition in the Parliament because five senators in the INITE leadership, who have been publicly linked to drug trafficking, kidnappings, human right violations and corruption, have launched a high profile smear campaign to impugn his character linking him to human rights violations for his crackdown on the violent kidnapping campaign. Gousse was never publicly perceived as being anything other than tough on crime, but nonetheless has been thoroughly vetted by human rights organizations who have found him to be nothing but upstanding and forthright in his political and private dealing, see: http://www.hpnhaiti.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3576:gousse-non-coupable-de-violation-des-droits-de-lhomme-plaide-le-rnddh&catid=1:politics&Itemid=1 Gousse will submit his documents within the next two weeks.

This is a tired, old story of the corrupt old guard fighting against the popular new guard promising change. INITE is the legislative wing of that corrupt old guard, and they have been surprisingly effective in blocking change in the face of overwhelming popular support for change. So, what is INITE and how have they been able to block change against public will? How is INITE getting control of parliament and trying to force continuity? What’s next?

What is INITE? Who are its Leaders?

INITE is not a political party per se; rather, it is a coalition of deputies and senators in parliament pulled together by former President Preval. The coalition has secured 16 of the 30 seats in the Senate and 42 seats in the Chamber of Deputies almost exclusively by manipulating electoral results in the 2009 and 2010 elections. Their favorability rating among the general public is a mere 2% because they are widely viewed as the perpetrators of political instability and intimidation, but more importantly because over the past 10 years, they have completely failed to deliver any results or progress for the people. Under their watch, nothing has improved in Haiti. It remains the second poorest country in the world and ranks among the most corrupt. The coalition is controlled by political operatives and business leaders who have been involved in violence, see: 1. http://www.youtube.com/v/kASfVSb9ozU?fs=1&hl=en_US 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVwsN4G-txY drug trafficking see: http://metropolehaiti.com/metropole/archive.php?action=full&keyword=Socabank&sid=0&critere=0&id=12324&p=3 kidnappings and various financial scandals in which state funds have been diverted for their personal enrichment.

The head of the INITE coalition in the Senate, Senator Joseph Lambert, is publicly perceived as corrupt, violent and linked to drug trafficking, money laundering and political assassination. When the Haitian National Police captured a boat carrying tons of cocaine in Tiburon, Southern Haiti, the press managed to uncover that Senator Lambert in fact owned the boat. The Haitian National Police linked him to the assassination of Monique Pierre, also a known drug trafficker, when it was discovered that the car that was driven by the assassins was owned by Lambert. The Senator is also rumored to be one of three senators who took 200 million gourdes (about $5 million) from the Office of Pension Workers (ONA) to build lavish homes. The manner and method he used to steal the money remains a matter of national debate, however.

Senator Lambert’s term in the senate is over in November, and he has set his sights on a cabinet position, Ministry of Agriculture, as a means to retain immunity against future prosecution. It should be noted that under Haiti’s constitution, if a Deputy or Senator commits a crime, he or she has judicial immunity and cannot be prosecuted unless two-thirds of the Chamber of which you are a member votes to allow the prosecution. So even if the police have an airtight case, they cannot prosecute unless Parliaments says they can. In the current political structure, INITE has enough votes to ensure that immunity is never revoked. As a member of the cabinet, you do not officially have judicial immunity; however, in practice, no cabinet members face prosecution given the vast power they hold in their positions.

Finally, it should also be noted that Joseph Lambert does everything with his brother, Wensceslass Lambert, who he named senator during the electoral coup of 2009. For more on Senator Lambert, see the following links:

Third in command within INITE is Moise Jean Charles. Nominated by Preval in 2009, he was the President’s advisor and his Ougan (vodou priest). Preval named him as a LESPWA-INITE senator also in the 2009 electoral coup to provide him judicial immunity for several open criminal matters. Charles killed two people in 2004 – Guitz Adrien Salvant and Donald Julmiste – and seriously injured Evens Lucien, in Cap Haitian, the Northern Department. These killings were politically motivated. See paragraph III: 1.http://radiokiskeya.com/spip.php?article5650 2. http://www.rnddh.org/article.php3?id_article=403 The judge who constituted the dossier issued an arrest warrant for him, but Preval used the power of the executive branch to prevent his arrest until he named him as senator. Charles has been linked to numerous other cases of political motivated violence. See a copy of arrest warrant at the end of the text.

The fourth is John Joel Joseph known over Haiti’s radio stations as the one who assisted Amaral Duclona in the 2004-2006 kidnapping spree in Haiti. Amaral was the head of Operations Bagdad I & II and Pakatan’n, which were violent political campaigns that assassinated 2,500 Haitians, kidnapped 1,300, killed 112 police officers (eight of them decapitated), raped 600 women, and stole 1,200 cars. They killed students, children, priests, journalists, and women indiscriminately in order intimidate and instill fear into the public. Joseph is popularly viewed as Amaral Duclona’s puppeteer, one of the most violent assassins in Haiti. See paragraph II: http://www.rnddh.org/article.php3?id_article=300 Bernard Gousse was the Minister of Justice who put an end to the madness of those violent campaigns. Duclona had to flee the country and was arrested in the Dominican Republic where he was extradited to France to face charges for murdering two French Diplomats. He confessed that he executed all the violence on behalf of his close associate former President Aristide. John Joel was also an informal advisor to President Preval who named him as Senator in 2009 to prevent future political prosecution.

And finally, the fifth in command is Jocelerme Privert a former Minister of the Interior under Aristide who became an advisor to Preval. He was directly involved in the Scierie Massacre in the town of Saint Marc when he was the Minister of Interior. An arrest warrant was issued for him, and he went into hiding. When Bernard Gousse became Minister of Justice he executed the warrant and put Privert in jail. Gousse sent him to court to face justice; however, when Preval became President, he stopped the judicial proceedings and named him as his advisor. See: http://www.rnddh.org/article.php3?id_article=336 Later Preval used the electoral coup to name him senator so he could also avoid facing any prosecution. The press also identified Privert as the one who falsified a constitutional amendment, an offense that is considered high treason. See: http://metropolehaiti.com/metropole/archive.php?action=full&keyword=amendement+constitution&sid=0&critere=0&id=19200&p=1The falsification was an effort by INITE and Preval to shift some of the President’s constitutional powers to Parliament after Martelly won the Presidency. On May 9 (five days before Martelly’s inauguration), INITE and Preval called a session of Parliament to pass an amendment that would strip some of the Presidential powers, but they did not have a chance to pass all the measures they had intended to get through. Therefore, after the vote, INITE parliamentarians tried to sneak additional changes to the constitutional amendment on May 13 to strengthen their position and allow them to reclaim the presidency months later. According to public discussions and declarations from his colleagues in the senate, Senator Privert directly carried out the falsification of the amendment. Their attempt was blatant and fully transparent. It is impossible to see how they thought they would get away with changing the text.

Part of INITE’s strategy is to impose on Martelly a Prime Minister that they can control. They have put forward several candidates in an effort to negotiate a compromise candidate despite the fact that they have absolutely no political power to make demands for compromise – not to mention absolutely an absymal track record upon which to claim that they can pick an effective Prime Minister. They have recommended the current Prime Minister, Jean Max Bellerive, who, in the eyes of the Haitian people and Martelly’s base, represents a total failure for his performance as Minister of Planning and as the Prime Minister in charge of the failed reconstruction over the past 18 months. See: 1.http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2011/01/haiti-one-year-after-earthquake-by.html 2. http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2011/04/haitian-companies-still-sidelined-from.html For Martelly’s base, Bellerive represents continuity of corruption and does not fulfill the mandate for change. In a last ditch effort to cling to some sort of power, INITE and Bellerive have called an IHRC meeting next week to promote him remaining in office. It is unheard of for a lame duck Prime Minister to presume to call such a meeting.

Second, they have put forward Jean Henry Ceant, a close associate of Aristide. He is a lawyer and public notary well known for corruption despite his best efforts to clean up his reputation over the past few years. In an official corruption report issued by UCREF, Haiti’s official anti-corruption bureau, he is linked to former President Aristide’s money laundering and stealing of state funds. See: http://balawou.blogspot.com/2010/08/jean-henry-ceant-enquetes-sur-la.html Some people believe that he used his knowledge of the judicial system and relationships to make his case disappear; while others believe he is innocent. See: http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/VINOUSH/message/16018 Again because of this and his Lavalas affiliation, Martelly’s base erupts whenever they hear the name. There are a few other names being floated around as well, including Eriq Pierre who serves as Haiti’s representative to the IDB. Pierre is not linked to the corruption and scandals, but is perceived as a Preval insider. Henry Bazin, a former Minister of Finance under Gerard Latortue’s Interim government, has also been identified as a potential candidate. While he has a great reputation, he is viewed as part of the old system.

How did INITE take control of parliament?

When Preval, his INITE associates and his handpicked Provisional Electoral Council, led by Gaillot Dorsinvil, executed the November 2010 electoral coup, the people revolted. Preval knew he either had to find some public means to address the situation to quell the public, or face revolt. To keep his office, Preval quickly adapted and asked the OAS to conduct an official review of the electoral results. The OAS Electoral Mission only focused on the manipulation of the Presidential tally sheets, which was a high profile issue, but they ignored the manipulated legislative results. As a result, INITE was able to steal 37 seats in the House and six in the Senate in an election that was widely known to be a referendum for change. The OAS, unfortunately, was seen as complicit for their failure to highlight the stolen legislative elections. See: http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2011/05/haiti-inite-tries-to-steal-parliament.html The people are still contesting these stolen seats. Around the country many voices are calling for a commission of three members to review the tally sheets of the legislative elections with the support of national domestic observers and international experts to fix what was stolen from the Haitian people. President Martelly has not responded yet to these calls.

What’s next?

The drug dealers and the kidnappers supported by the corrupt business cartel Groupe de Bourdon are determined to maintain the ruthless and lawless status quo in Haiti. Their future and the future of justice and democracy are in the balance. The corruptors will try to once again create chaos in order to continue their predatory system of management and governance. Meanwhile the international community after spending $4 billion to assist Haiti’s democracy is paralyzed and wary of wading in with support after being burned so many times.

In spite of their best efforts to maintain status quo, the winds of change are at the back of the President. His extreme popularity (currently at 71%) gives him the political power to break through the deadlock. The people have been the only force that has been able to effectively rise up against the corruption and throw out the corruptors as they did with Duvalier and Aristide – and almost with Preval. Martelly has the political capital and support to stand up to the predators and make change. Already, their deadlock strategy is backfiring with public support strongly in favor of Martelly democratically confronting INITIE. Immediately after Rouzier was booted by INITE, 85% of the people advocated democratic confrontation. In recent polls, that number has climbed to an astounding 91% of the people in favor of democratic confrontation. In the face of such public support, INITE operatives can either face popular revolt and being completely booted out in the upcoming November elections. INITE has the option to continue with their juvenile deadlock tactics, or they can realize that change has come; they can either play ball or be left behind.Click on arrest warrant to enlarge

Kim Ives, an American anarchist who serves as the mouthpiece for deposed Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide, is using so-called “WikiLeaks Cables” to assassinate the character of many Haitians democrats. Unlike the New York Times, which published the original cables along with their analytical pieces, Kim Ives never published the original cables with his analysis, which is biased, and in many cases just plain fiction. The publication of the original would reveal how big of a liar he is. Haitian analysts say that Ives’s objective is to undermine all Haitian democrats’ credibility in an effort to keep Aristide from ever having to face charges for the political and economic crimes. According to Haiti’s General Accounting Office and the Haitian Unit to Fight Against Corruption (ULCC), Aristide pilfered more than $350 million during his nine years in office (see: http://www.haitipolicy.org/Lobbying7.htm ). Ives’s role as Aristide’s chief foreign propaganda agent is to taint and undermine Haiti’s judicial system so that Aristide does not face a similar fate as former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier who is facing charges for the $600 million he stole over 14 years and human rights violations. Ives is building a narrative portraying Aristide as a victim of imperialism in the US and internationally.

Click on photo to enlarge

Kim Ives widely known in Haiti as a pathological liar who has spent years assassinating the character of Haitian businessmen, civil society activists, political leaders, human rights and democratic activists who accurately reported and documented all of Aristide’s human rights violations, corruption, and drug trafficking. These people do not fit his vision of the world where everything is blamed upon the imperialist West.

Kim Ives has issues with his own country, and he is trying to use my country, Haiti, to address his problems. He is not alone though. He is a part of a network of foreign operatives that have had a taste of power and money in Haiti under Aristide’s rule and are doing everything they can to restore that power (see: http://www.haitipolicy.org/Lobbying7.htm ). Kim Ives is known as the one who fabricated the lie that Aristide was kidnapped in 2004 by US forces. Aristide’s own Prime Minister, Yvon Neptune, stated that claim was a complete lie (see: http://radiokiskeya.com/spip.php?article7105 ).

Kim has convenient justifications for why Haiti is in the abysmal state that it is in today explaining away decades of corrupt and violent rulers with accusations of a “vast right wing conspiracy” and imperialism in the US. Somehow the Haitian people who have directly suffered under their violent rule and have lost their friends, family and loved ones to human rights abuses and political killings are just making up stories (see: http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2011/01/duvalier-returns-to-haiti-merely-pawn.html ). The absolute, irrefutable and documented fact is that Jean Bertrand Aristide, Duvalier and Rene Preval stole the meager resources of an impoverished country. While US policy is important, it does not make or break Haiti. It cannot save us, and it cannot destroy us (see: http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2009/01/us-policy-toward-haiti-stanley-lucas.html ).

Kim Ives picks and chooses facts to reinforce his ideological bias. When the US responded in 1994 to Jean Bertrand Aristide official request to intervene militarily and reinstate him as President (see: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/60373-1), Kim Ives praised that move. But wasn’t that imperialism, Kim? When Aristide was stealing state funds from Haiti’s telephone company with New Jersey Republican Congressman James Coulter, Ives was silent (see: http://thekomisarscoop.com/tag/haiti/ ). Wasn’t that imperialism Kim? But when the US called for free and fair elections and the respect of the will of the voters or for a stop to political assassinations, drug trafficking and corruption, Kim was first in line to hurl the imperialist accusations. So for Kim, advocating for democracy and the rule of law and respect of the people is a problem, but militarily installing a leader and profiting from corruption is not.

One thing that Kim Ives must understand he will never be able to replace Haitians. He has been trying to do this for years. Apparently, we Haitians are unable to review the facts on our own, and we are too ignorant to understand why our country is in this dire situation.

Kim Ives also has a problem with me directly. I have been inconvenient to his agenda by shedding a light Aristide’s actions as well as others like Duvalier and Preval. He wants to portray me as part of an imperialist machine. For me, it has never been ideological; it is about principles and holding leaders accountable. It is about democracy and good governance. I have been told that I am undiplomatic in my advocacy of democratic principles. So be it. When I see what has happened to my country, I cannot help but tell it like it is and present the unvarnished truth.

My recent piece, The Truth About Aristide: Mob Boss or Persecuted Priest? (see: http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2011/03/truth-about-aristide-mob-boss-or.html ) has obviously angered Kim and his boss. They do not like inconvenient truth and facts, so they resort to lies. Kim claims that I had meetings in Canada with Haitian Senator Youri Latortue to plot against Aristide, which is a lie. I was invited twice to Canada during that period. The first time was for a meeting organized by the Canadian Government for the Haitian Diaspora managed by Carlo Dade. The focus was what the Haitian Diaspora could do to help Haiti’s economy. The second time I was invited to attend Prime Minister Charest’s party convention where I met the Prime Minister, members of his cabinet, members of parliament and high ranking officials from his party. The idea was what could we Haitians learn from the French Canadians to strengthen our political parties, parliament and the civil servant without reinventing the wheel. The rest is pure speculation by Ives. Reports from both events are online.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest

Hon. Bissonet President of Quebec's House

Bottom line is that Ives has an agenda and is not encumbered by the truth in advocating that agenda. As always, I welcome debate on the situation in Haiti, but you have to present facts to back up your position rather than just inventing stories.

13 fire fighters from Haiti led by Chief Ardouin Zephirin arrived in Rockville for two weeks of fire and rescue training at Montgomery County Fire Rescue Training Academy http://www.rockvilleliving.com/blog/entries/2009_05_firefighters_from_haiti

Stanley Lucas and Richard R. Bowers, Jr, Chief of the Montgomery County (MD) Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS